Police chief search committee formed in Norristown

NORRISTOWN — Council formed a three-person ad hoc committee Tuesday night to modify the police chief’s job description, hire a public search firm to find suitable candidates and conduct two to three public meetings with residents to involve them in the search process.

Norristown Police Chief Russell Bono will retire at the end of March 2013 after having served as police chief for the past 14 years. Capt. Willie Richet, the deputy police chief, will retire at the same time.

“They will handle the following work with finance/personnel to review and add to the job description of police chief, which has not been determined prior,” said Council President Gary Simpson of the ad hoc committee. “They will provide the public process to convene with the community for two or three public meetings. They will work with a public firm which will be engaged by council as a whole.”A group of eight residents recently circulated a flyer in town asking council to engage in “a legitimate formal search for a qualified police chief.”

Simpson appointed Councilmen Dwayne Royster, William Caldwell and Marlon Millner to the committee.

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“We have already talked to two firms,” Royster said. “We will be making a decision about that as soon as possible.”

“It is the right way to go. It is always best to include the public in the determination about what policing looks like,” Caldwell said. “You need to have a search process that includes professional help. Those are the two reasons you combine those two items.”

Millner said council may hire a search firm without competitive bidding because professional services are exempt from bid rules.

“The beginning stage will be about the role of the firm. People should be confident,” he said. “We are aware of firms that deliver good work … Council saw this as way to move forward.”

Earlier in the meeting, council unanimously adopted a final budget for 2013 of $28,988,029, with a millage rate of 12.36, the same level as as 2012.

The municipality lost a $259,800 Host Community Grant from Montgomery County, and council dropped individual grants totaling $127,224 to several community organizations from the budget. The 2013 budget includes $132,576 from the reserve account to make up for part of the county grant loss.

The budget was adopted without discussion by council or questions from the public.

In other business, council held a public hearing and unanimously adopted a zoning map change for a new “Retirement Community Overlay District” at the former Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School. The zoning change will allow construction of a $50 million, senior housing project proposed by Hallman Retirement Neighborhoods (HRN) of Pottstown. The proposal originally had 199 units.

No one from the public commented during the public hearing.

To qualify for the overlay district, a project must have a minimum area of 12 acres, a maximum building coverage of 25 percent of the parcel, a maximum impervious coverage of 60 percent and a minimum common open space area of 20 percent of the parcel. The ordinance restricts maximum building height for multifamily buildings to four stories or 48 feet. All other residential uses and retail/commercial buildings shall not exceed two stories or 35 feet, whichever is greater.

The original HRN plan called for 46 housing units in the four-story high school building, 114 units in three three-story buildings and 39 single-family, ranch-style homes for senior housing. The single homes are a mixture of twin homes, triplexes, fourplexes and one sixplex.

Each three-story, 39-unit building will have a basement garage for parking and three residential floors above the garage. The three buildings are proposed for the area behind the high school building, across Arch Street in a former parking lot for the school and at the rear of the property.